Highway vehicles, such as trucks, automobiles, and the like are equipped with side view mirrors to enable the driver of the vehicle to be aware of traffice conditions on both sides and the rear of the vehicle. The side view mirrors are located in the environment adjacent the side of the vehicle where they can accumulate foreign road particles, such as snow, frost, mud, dirt, dust, salt, water, insects and the like. This foreign material impairs the viewing characteristics of the mirror. The mirrors are periodically cleaned. During adverse weather conditions, the side view mirrors cannot be effectively cleaned, thereby reducing their visual effectiveness.
Deflectors have been proposed to cause air to flow over the mirror surface to remove the foreign matter therefrom. An example of this type of deflector is shown by Robinson in U.S. Pat. No. 3,059,540. The Robinson rear view mirror has a generally U-shaped air intercepting channel or trough mounted on the outer peripheral frame of the vehicle. The trough directs air through holes around the periphery of the mirror toward the center of the reflecting surface of the mirror. In another device, shown by Busche in U.S. Pat. No. 4,196,930, a plurality of air deflectors are located forwardly of the side view mirror. The deflectors direct air outwardly, upwardly, and downwardly around the side view mirror to prevent the foreign material from accumulating on the reflecting surface of the mirror. The device operates to prevent the foreign material from reaching the viewing surface of the mirror.